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eNotes
A News Service from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
Current and past issues of eNotes can be viewed and searched online at http://www.ectacenter.org/enotes/enotes.asp
ECTA
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eNotes
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has published its 2007 State Preschool Yearbook, the fifth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This latest Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2006-2007 school year. It can be accessed online at http://nieer.org/yearbook/. To receive a complimentary copy of the 2007 Yearbook, contact yearbook@nieer.org
Quality Rating Systems are being implemented across the nation as a means to define and promote quality in child care settings. ZERO TO THREE's National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative has recently published a new document on the design of such systems, with suggestions for including quality indicators specific to the very youngest children in child care. The document is available at http://nccic.org/itcc/publications/qrsdesignelements.htm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a new report entitled The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan, which describes the how early adverse experiences impact long-term health -- especially stress caused by child maltreatment. It is meant to provide practitioners with strategies to incorporate research on childhood stress and its long-term consequences into their work. It is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/effects_of_childhood_stress.htm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published the results of a study examining the extent of nonfatal infant maltreatment in the United States. Data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) indicated that a total of 91,278 infants aged <1 year experienced nonfatal maltreatment in fiscal year 2006, including 29,881 who were aged <1 week. The complete findings are available in the April 4,2008 issue of MMWR Weekly at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5713a2.htm. A discussion of the study by the CDC and the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (AYC) is available at http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/2008/t080403.htm
April is Child Abuse Prevention month and the latest issue of the Children's Bureau Express dedicates an entire section to this topic. It is available at http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewSection&issueID=93&subsectionID=9 and includes the following news items:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. These grants will support studies covering a broad range of autism research areas, including early brain development and functioning, social interactions in infants, rare genetic variants and mutations, associations between autism-related genes and physical traits, possible environmental risk factors and biomarkers, and a potential new medication treatment. For more information go to http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2008/nimh-01.htm
The state in which a child is born and raised can make an enormous difference to their health and chances of surviving to adulthood, according to a major new report released today by the Every Child Matters Education Fund (ECMEF). Entitled Geography Matters: Child Well-Being in the States, the report concludes: "There exists a huge gap among states on a wide variety of child well-being indicators. Such inequalities affect all Americans, rich and poor alike, and weaken both our economy and our democracy." The report is available online at http://www.everychildmatters.org/National/Resources/Geography-Matters.html